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9/19 Focus: Early civilizations developed in Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers There were few natural barriers in this region which made it a crossroads where people shared customs and ideas. Do Now What are the characteristics of a civilization?. Mesopotamian Civilizations. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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• 9/19 Focus:– Early civilizations developed in
Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
– There were few natural barriers in this region which made it a crossroads where people shared customs and ideas.
• Do Now–What are the characteristics of a
civilization?
Public Works
SpecializationOf Labor
ArtsArchitecture
Writing & Record Keeping
Social Classes
Religion
Cities & Government
CivilizationCivilization
Mesopotamian Mesopotamian CivilizationsCivilizations
Sumer and Babylon
MesopotamiaMesopotamia• Fertile Crescent • “The Land between the
Two Rivers”– Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers– Fertile farmland from
silt left by floods– Floods were
unpredictable• Lack of natural barriers
allowed frequent migrations of people and invasions – Cultural diffusion
• First civilizations are thought to have developed here
SumerSumer• The first civilization to develop in
Mesopotamia about 5,500 B.C.E• City-States developed along the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers – An independent political unit with
its own government• Ur, Uruk, Kish, Lagesh
– Used mud bricks due to lack of other building materials
• Cities were protected by defensive walls
• Ziggurats were found at the center of each city– A large, tiered, pyramid shaped structure – Built for the god or goddess of each city
ReligionReligion
• Were polytheistic– Enlil, the god of air and storms, was one
of the most important– Gods controlled natural events
• Viewed their gods as hostile and unpredictable– Similar to their environment
• Priests held high status in Sumer–Worked to keep the gods pleased
GovernmentGovernment
• War chiefs often became Kings• Kings performed rituals to please the
gods• Dynasties developed – A series of rulers from one family
TradeTrade
• Traded with people across Southwest Asia– Lacked many
natural resources
– Traded for timber, stone, metals
WritingWriting
• Cuneiform – Form of writing that
used sharp tools to make wedge shaped symbols on clay tablets
– Scribes were paid and had a high place in society
LiteratureLiterature
• The Gilgamesh Epic– One of the oldest
surviving works of literature
– 4,000 year old story of a Sumerian hero who seeks immortality
– Originally a story that was passed on through oral tradition
• Babylon
• Numbers